They were driving a few minutes out of town for a scene and it was hot. Not as hot as it'd be later in the day but pretty damned hot for 8am on a tuesday morning. Hange had had a 'turning local' moment that included riding in the car with their window's down and Levi was hating every minute of it. It was fucking hot. And there were bugs.

Levi hung his elbow out of the window and tried to not think of anything. Not the heat, not the bugs, not Erwin fucking Smith.

They had stopped at the Hardees which was on that side of town and gotten coffee and a bag of various biscuits for Hange and a Frisco Breakfast Sandwich for Levi. Levi just couldn't get the hang of biscuits. He didn't see the appeal. True they tasted heavenly but they were crumbly and greasy and messy. Hange had been egging him on to try biscuits and gravy (something Hange had discovered at Waffle House) but Levi couldn't get used to white sausage gravy. Gravy was supposed to be brown or golden at the lightest. Something you ate at Thanksgiving and Christmas or for Sunday dinner he supposed. For people who did that sort of thing.

Hange drove with one hand while she sucked down her coffee. Levi side-eyed her, irritated. "How can you drink that shit as hot as it is?"

"I've seen you drink hot tea in ninety degree weather, Levi!"

"Tea is sublime. That's not a fucking beverage."

"It's coffee! You drink coffee!"

"It's not coffee. That's angry bean water. You don't put anything in it. How do you stand it?"

Hange sipped appreciatively, "It's hot and bitter like my soul."

Levi smirked.

They rounded a bend and went across a low bridge. Levi had noticed that there were a lot of bridges in the south. The state seemed to have a lot of water. There seemed to be creeks, rivers, and lakes everywhere. They also had beaches, apparently. Levi wondered what they looked like. He loved the beach. He sat up straighter. They were on the lake, lake Stillwell (properly called the Stillwell Reservoir,) and it was really pretty. Prettier than Levi had expected. Houses large and small dotted the shore but there were large stretches of just trees lining the shore. Fishing boats trolled around and there was the occasional pontoon boat or jet-skier.

They entered the trees again then finally came out in an open area where they could see the film crew setting up. There were no houses. Levi learned later that the location was a state park.

There was an old lodge that the park used as an office and welcome center that sold drinks and bait and tackle. There was a wide concrete boat ramp with a sign saying "Park and Ramp" and an arrow. Ahh, that's what a park and ramp was. There were elongated parking spaces for the trucks and empty boat trailers to park while the boaters and fishermen were on the lake. It was pretty busy for first thing on a week-day morning. It must be nice to not have anywhere to go on a week-day except to the lake to fish.

They pulled up into a space for cars and Hange killed the engine and swung open her door.

Levi was already looking critically at the lodge-cum-welcome center. One of their deals with the state park, he learned later, was that while the film crew tidied up the outside of the old lodge as a part of the movie set, they'd do some repairs to it that Levi and Mike would supervise.

Levi got out slowly. Ugh. Mike. Hange had already calmly warned him that Erwin might be coming with his friend. Why he didn't know and didn't care. OK, he did care, he was curious, but whatever.

He was trying to put the whole stupid episode behind him. Hange had apologized over and over and he just wanted to get on with his life. He trailed behind Hange, trying to focus on the building and not on the fact that he would be seeing Erwin after two weeks. Shit, he'd actually attacked the man, threatened to beat him up. Punched Mike.

Mike had told him the day after they'd fought that he forgave him (and Levi was very grateful) and that Erwin had too, but he was still loathe to see the man.

A part of him was eager, so eager, to see him again and he tried to rein himself in. He put on a blank face as they rounded the building.

The crew had set up the day before and were running around like ants, as usual. He spotted Mike and Erwin easily enough, two towering blonds.

Levi surreptitiously looked at Erwin. He looked really good although he looked kind of thinner. Had he lost weight? He'd liked Erwin's chunky, solid body. He banished that thought quickly.

Hange almost ran up to them. "I brought biscuits! All different kinds!" They brandished the Hardees bag. Hardees had about a million different kinds of biscuits and Levi was convinced that Hange had bought two of each. "Hey, Erwin!" Hange said.

Levi trailed up.

"Levi." Mike said.

"Mike."

"You remember Erwin?"

"Mike," Hange warned. "Behave."

"Levi," Erwin said, "Good morning. You look good."

Levi was taken aback at the compliment and actually blushed slightly. He jammed both hands into his pockets. "Erwin."

He wanted to ask him how he was, tell him that he looked hella good himself with his pale hair shining in the early morning sun. But he stayed silent.

Mike and Levi went to work on their set, Hange went off to do their thing and Erwin left. The crew eventually went elsewhere to shoot a scene while Levi and Mike worked on the lodge.

Levi didn't do any of the actual building—he wasn't a construction worker, that's what Mike and his crew were for—so he spent a good amount of time just overseeing and planning.

Levi was not at all averse to physical work, however, and working with contractors had always been part of his job, so he was nimbly taking wood off of a truck and stacking it when Mike came over.

"You don't have to do that."

Levi grunted. "May as well. Gives me something to do."

Mike lent a hand and they unloaded the entire truck together. It was admirable that the Set Designer on a movie would help him do such a mundane, physical chore, and Mike appreciated it. Both because it helped out and that it showed Levi's character. Levi didn't think himself above the construction workers.

Mike idly and offhandedly watched Levi work. The way his tight, refined muscles worked. Mike wasn't gay, but he could now see what Erwin saw in the guy. He was physically attractive. You didn't have to be gay to see that. And he was a good man. Really, really bad at human interaction but an all-around good person. Mike decided that the silence had gone on too long. He tried breaking the ice.

"Sorry you had to see Erwin out here today. I know I kind of sprang that on you."

Levi stared at him. They had just finished the wood and he was taking off his leather work gloves that were a bit too big for him. "S'OK. I understand he's your friend. I'm not gonna die."

"You should go to Lowes," Mike said, "Get you a good pair of women's sized gloves. They'd fit better."

Levi bristled. "Tch. Women's sized?"

"Yeah, I mean women tend to have smaller hands and you have smaller hands. Some guys have smaller hands. I've got Latino guys on the crew that always go for the women's gloves. No biggie."

Levi seemed appeased. He looked critically at his gloves. "You think?"

"Sure. Dump those canvas and leather gloves and go for the full leather ones. They conform to the shape of your hands." He held up his own huge hands in their leather gloves, once a light tan color they were stained dark with use.

"Hmmm."

Mike busied himself with putting up the tailgate of the truck, it was one of his workers' trucks.

"Uh …" Levi said. Mike looked at him. He was staring at the ground intently. "Erwin looked … kind of thin."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, he's lost some weight. I don't think he's taking care of himself, honestly. He drinks way too much …" Mike hesitated, " ...now."

Levi looked genuinely pained and Mike wondered for the hundredth time what the fuck was wrong with these two men that they couldn't just talk it out or fight it out or fuck it out or something. It was getting exasperating.

"Yeah," Levi said to the soft carpet of pine needles on the ground, "me too."

"Fuck, Levi. You know you can just talk to the man. Just go to the damned diner and talk to him. I guarantee he'll listen."

Levi inspected his gloves with absorption.

"Yeah, well," he muttered, almost inaudibly, "I'll think about it."